Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Healthy Olive Oil Cookies with Sunflower & Sesame Seeds

This is the extension of my healthy cookies attempt. In 2008, I created a Healthy Cookies which I shared the recipe in 2009. Today, I make it healthier with extra virgin olive oil and increase the energy of this cookie by adding oats, walnuts, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds (all these are health boosting food).

I grew up from eating cookies as a snack so it will be very hard to ask me to give up on cookies. Most of the cookies selling at the supermarkets today have trans-fat (partially hydrogenated oil, hydrogenated oil or shortening) listed in their ingredients list. So, the choices I have were limited unless I pay more for all natural or organic cookies. Even the cookies selling at Asian markets have trans-fat or shortening, imagine I have to give out the Asian cookies that I grew up eating and loved. It was heart breaking to take down the cookies that I loved and had to put it back on the shelf when I read the ingredients list. It happened to me so very often. I am someone who is very careful about trans-fat because I realized over the years I had been eating trans-fat laden cookies, cakes, donuts, or bakes when I grew up when trans-fat was not listed in the label and people were not aware of it. But now we know, it is all a choice and it is your choice to decide what you want to put in your body and how you want to raise your kids. It is hard to avoid trans-fat food all the times but I am trying very hard to.

So, these days I try to bake cookies and cake as best as I can. I baked this cookies for my girl's school snack and also my afternoon snack, limit to 2 a day. As this is a healthy cookies, it's only suitable for those that are eating for their health, love the taste of extra virgin olive oil and whole wheat flour and won't miss the smell of butter in a cookie. This is not an indulgent cookies that when you sink your teeth in it, you taste butter and extreme sweetness. This is a crispy cookie that when you bite into it, you would taste olive oil, whole wheat flour and walnut. This is not a super sweet cookie too. Of course you can use canola oil for the neutral taste and cheaper alternative, just change the extra virgin olive oil to canola oil. Seriously, if you are a little health conscious and love to snack on cookies, it's worth a try. Did I also mention that it's super easy to make and put together?

I am also submitting this recipe to Dr. Oz Healthy Holiday Cookie Challenge.

I loved feedback!! So if you tried this please feedback to me ya. Appreciated! :)

~Yield about 28-30 cookies, depended on the size of the cookies.

Ingredients:

(A)

1 large free range brown egg

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil ( or you can use the less pungent olive oil)

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup + 1/8 cup pure granulated cane sugar

(B)

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (or organic)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

(C)

1/4 cup old fashion rolled oats

1/4 cup whole walnuts, chopped

2 Tbsp. sunflower seeds

1 Tbsp. white sesame seeds

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in egg, whisk well. Add in olive oil and vanilla extract, whisk well. Add in cane sugar, whisk well. Add in (B), use a spatula to blend well.

2. Preheat oven to 350'F.

3. Stir in (C). Use your hand to mix and blend well.

4. Lined a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use you hand to pinch some of the dough and roll into ball (or squeeze into a ball) and place on parchment paper. Finish the rest. The dough will flatten slightly during the baking process, like my picture above.

5. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack completely before storing in an air-tight container.

EV Olive oil in a cookie? OK - I'm not a baker, so this might not be a new thing, but for me it is new. I'm going to have to make these out of curiosity as well as the fact that they look absolutely delicious! What beautiful and "healthy" cookies!